The Lifecycle Of A Sync: Part 3
The Ol' Hurry Up And Wait
Oh, hey again!
So far in this “Lifestyle of a Sync” series, we’ve covered a lot of ground. We talked about finding your lane, growing your network, leaning on warm connections, and getting those first emails out. Then we dove into decoding briefs and learning how to look at a project and decide if your music even makes sense before you pitch.
If you missed any of that… wtf, slacker?! (Kidding, kidding, kiiiiidiiiiiing. Sheesh). But you really should go catch up here, here, and here.
Good to go? Good, because today we look at the next stage of the lifecycle… the part nobody brags about, but everybody has to go through.
The hurry up and wait. (Ooooooh…. Aaaaaah….)
You grind to hit a deadline… you submit on time… you follow all the guidelines and then… you wait. And wait. And… wait.
Yea, it sounds boring, but this stage is actually where your mindset is tested and proves to be your most valuable tool.
This is where resilience and momentum are built.
Resilience because you’re going to hear “no” (or worse, hear nothing) way more than you’ll hear “yes.”
And momentum because between those no’s and that waiting…
… you realize that the best way to log some wins is by putting more irons in the fire.
Disclaimer: I maybe get a lil aggro in this post, but please keep in mind… none of this is meant to discourage anyone!! My goal is to share my experiences and knowledge in an effort to arm you with info and realistic expectations around the difficulties that everyone in this space contends with. You CAN do this!
Start training your brain to know what you want and set it to start looking for opportunities. And like we talked about when we discussed warm leads, remember that “opportunities” don’t just mean emailing a music supervisor or music library. Start to notice the potential opportunities in your everyday conversations and interactions.
What happens after you hit send?
OK, so let’s say you nailed the brief and sent off your “winning” track. Keeping in mind this process will vary depending on what path you are on for your sync journey, here’s what usually happens on the other side of “send”:
Initial listen. Within seconds of the 1st listen, the supervisor knows if your track has potential. Remember, your track is being compared to the potentially hundreds of other submissions in addition to the ref tracks. This is not meant to scare you. This is meant to give you an additional no-nonsense reality check for the quality your music needs to meet. I wasn’t kidding when I said our resilience will be tested! Anyways, if the supervisor feels it has potential, it might go on an internal shortlist to share with the rest of the team. This usually happens within 24 to 48 hours after you submit.
Temp test/internal share. If rough cuts or storyboards exist, your track gets laid back against the picture to see if the pacing and emotion fit. This will happen as soon as there are any visuals available… usually when you submit, unless its more of an exploratory search. The best ones will make it to the final list to be shared with the client. This could potentially take days (or longer) to sort out.
Client presentation. Your track gets played for the client… then maybe their boss… then maybe their boss’s boss. Depending on who your client is, their team needs to be on the same page before playing for their client. We allllllll have clients to answer to! This is happening usually within a few days/week(s) after submission and internal review.
Final decisions. This is where time can feel like it’s frozen in a sick joke of a waiting period. Sometimes decisions are quick. Sometimes they take… months. Priorities shift, budgets get reallocated, people go on vacation, renovate the office, have kids, get sick, etc. There are a million reasons why this could take forever, but it can simply just take that long for a final decision to be made. Buckle up and sit with the discomfort of knowing this could a while.
Curveballs. As if the waiting period isn’t hard enough… within that waiting period there’s also the laundry list of potential ways that the project could get scrapped. The show could get canceled. The ad could get pulled. The storyline could change. Or someone could just… change, their, mind. Just like that. These things happen all the time and they can happen at any time.
Sounds terrifying, right? Like you’ve lost all control?
Yea. You kinda have. Which is why you should focus on the only thing you can control at this stage: your mindset.
High commitment, low attachment
Raise your hand if you’re pissed that I just said your brilliant track probably lives or dies by stuff you’ll never touch.
Trust me… I get it.
But, what if I told you that one of the most freeing things about sync can be that same lack of control?
Hear me out because this is all mindset.
As my fav Stoic philosopher points out:
“Happiness and freedom begin with a clear understanding of one principle. Some things are within your control. And some things are not.” -Epictetus
We are clear that there are a buuuunch of things outside of our control here. Right? Right. So, let’s shift our mindset away from fighting that reality and instead, step into a steady state of action.
If you can commit fully to pitching and looking for opportunities while staying (relatively) unattached to the outcome, you win.
What I mean by that is you stop looking at that one pitch as THE answer to all of your music career woes. You stop treating every pitch like it’s the only one you’ll ever have. You stop taking “no” personally. You realize that an element of this is simply a numbers game. It’s about steady flow. A constant pipeline of creating and sourcing opportunities.
This industry rewards tenacity. Every no puts you closer to a potential yes. What if you’re just three no’s away from the placement that changes your trajectory? You’d happily burn through those rejections to get there.
Talk to more people. Source more potential opportunities. Do more research on possible partners and clients. Stay doing! Go Go Go!
Follow-up
“Cooooool, Rob. So, I have to just work my a$$ off to make the best possible music and then you want me to find opps for it, pitch it, forget that I even pitched it and be happy about that?!”
Well, kinda, but… there is something we should also do while we’re practicing that high-commitment, low-attachment mindset and moving on to sourcing the next opp: follow-up.
But, not follow-up the way most people think of follow-up.
The mistake most artists make is thinking follow-up is their last chance to claw back control. So they come in way too hot, emailing 2 days later like, “Hey, did you listen yet? What’s the status? Do you like it? Do you need more music?”
Please… don’t be that person.
Here’s the reality: in sync, no news is usually bad news. Sorry.
That said though, we also know this process can drag on forever, and silence doesn’t always mean death.
Follow-up is fine… necessary, even… but it has to show you understand the process.
Remember: the people on the other side are juggling their own clients, deadlines, curveballs, office politics, and fires you’ll never see. Respect that.
Here’s the balance:
Give it a couple weeks before checking in.
Acknowledge you know these things take time.
Offer to make their life easier if your track is moving forward.
Something like:
“Hey [Name],
Just wanted to quickly check in on the _____ project. Curious if you have a sense for when decisions might be made? Totally appreciate how slammed you and the team must be, but if there’s anything you need from my end to help make the process smoother, just let me know. Thanks so much!”
Make it your own, of course, but the goal is clear: show you’re proactive, patient, and professional.
Follow-up is not about begging for validation. It’s about proving you’re someone worth working with.
More doing
Keep creating, keep pitching, keep moving. That’s how you build the muscles that outwork the randomness. That’s how you last.
Even if you don’t plan on making sync your full-time focus, understanding this process makes you a better artist. You build resilience. You build persistence. You build momentum. And those skills will always outperform whatever happens (or doesn’t) in your inbox.